Blue Jays keep Guerrero Jr. in heart of order despite slump
Toronto manager John Schneider said the team considered moving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. down but decided against it. Guerrero is having the worst season of his career, with an OPS well below his norm. Schneider said they don't want to punish him and he remains most effective hitting third.
Guerrero has hit second or third in 87 percent of his 940 career starts, and his career OPS in the third spot sits at .886, the highest of any lineup position he regularly occupies. The Jays' current qualified hitters outperforming him this season—Kirk, Okamoto, and Sánchez—are already slotted second, fifth, and sixth, leaving little room for a dramatic reshuffle without disrupting the lineup's structure.
Schneider previously dropped Bo Bichette to seventh in August 2022 as a deliberate motivational tactic, a move he texted Bichette about the night before. He draws a clear distinction between the two players, saying a similar "strategic anger" approach would not work with Guerrero, whose struggles stem from mechanical issues rather than effort or focus.
This story may resonate beyond Toronto's fan base as a case study in how teams balance loyalty to star players against performance metrics. Fans and analysts could debate whether protecting a struggling slugger's confidence outweighs optimizing lineup production, a question that applies across sports. The decision may also shape Guerrero's trade value and contract discussions, potentially influencing how other clubs handle similar situations with their own underperforming stars.